PLANS have been unveiled to restore and reopen a 19th-century cemetery – after it was deemed too "dangerous" to be open to the public.

Collapsing graves and years of neglect were among the reasons why Ockbrook and Borrowash Parish Council decided to shut the cemetery, in Belmont Drive, to visitors.

The site, which first opened for burials in the 1860s, has been closed for about 15 years. Parish councillors say it could cost about £75,000 to restore.

Now, after months of investigation to determine who owns it, work has now started to make it safe to visit again.

Councillors said the first steps would involve assessing the dangers posed by the site and setting up a group to organise fund-raising.

Parish council chairman Mike Wallis said it had decided to look into reopening the cemetery after receiving requests from the public.

He said: "There's a lot of interest in old cemeteries at the moment, particularly because more people are using ancestry websites to do their family history.

"We had to contact a lot of people to actually find out who owned the cemetery, including the Methodist Church head office at Manchester, and we found out that ownership is probably not the right word. The council is the trustee and, at some point, it passed to us. It's going to cost money to put the cemetery right and it's not going to take five minutes but it is a very exciting project and we're really keen to get this cemetery open."

The cemetery closed for burials in the late 1940s and a trustees group was set up soon afterwards. This was then disbanded in the 1970s and the parish council took over as trustee in 1979.

The council said that, despite often being called the Old Methodist Cemetery, the Methodist church had no record of any association with the cemetery.

It is not known exactly how many people are buried there but among those laid to rest was William Barron, described as one of "Borrowash's most famous sons".

Mr Barron was a Scot who had trained at the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh.

In 1830, at the age of about 25, he was appointed gardener to the Earl of Harrington at Elvaston Castle and was instructed to create a new garden.

He later bought land for nursery site in Borrowash and founded firm William Barron and Son, before his death in 1891.

Mr Wallis said: "There are lots of interesting details on the headstones and I'm sure people who live in Borrowash today would be able to find some of their ancestors.

"But the figure of £75,000 is a pretty good estimate and what we need now is to get a friends group organised who can apply for funding and get it back in use as a place of interest."